Give Me A Reason
by NaniNekoDesu
Summary: Human AU. Ludwig is a rather shy, cruel teenager that does not act like a teenager (which is a tragic thing in his brothers eyes) and Felicia is a happy, depressed, hyperactive girl Ludwig swears he knows but just cant remember her. Surely, these two can never get along- then again, stranger things have happen. [Nyo Italy/Germany]
1. A(n) (Un)Fortunate Meeting

_**A/N: **I've had this idea in my head for a while but the chances of continuing are 50/50. Brb, gonna throw up now, blargh.  
_

* * *

_**Name**__: Give Me A Reason_

_**Full summary**__: Ludwig is a rather shy, cruel teenager that does not act like a teenager (which is a tragic thing in his brothers eyes) since teenagers party and have friends! He, unfortunately, does not have many friends and prefers to read books, research cars on the internet, or train his dogs._

_Felicia is a happy, depressed, hyperactive girl who has a pet cat, reads poetry and the most gruesome of horror novels when she feels brave enough, and is an artist at heart, preferring to draw in class rather than work. Ludwig swears he knows her but just can't remember this idiotic and annoying girl. Surely, these two can never get along- then again, stranger things have happen._

_**Pairings**__: Nyo!North Italy x Germany with vague hints and indications at Nyo!Canada x Prussia, Nyo!Spain x South Italy, and Nyo!France x Nyo!England_

_**Rated M**__: Cursing; vague hints at past bullying, cutting, and suicidal thoughts; possible sexual intentions and scenes_

_**Disclaimer**__: All names are fictional. Any relation to a person, dead or alive is purely coincidental, as is the scenes in this story. Anything that might be real are just locations, and things associated with history. This is __**not**__ meant to offend anyone or promote suicide. There is __**always**__ a way and __**you can get help**__. It is meant as a sort of awareness story to pay attention to others and notice the signs before it's too late._

* * *

_Just give me a reason, just a little bit's enough  
Just a second, we're not broken- just bent and we can learn to love again._

_Oh, it's in the stars, it's been written in the scars on our hearts  
We're not broken- just bent and we can learn to love again..._

* * *

"I swear to God," snapped a very irritated, very depreciated man with long, blond hair, "If you don't shut up Gilbert..." The person who he was yelling at was his grandson Gilbert, a young man with platinum blond- almost white hair with red eyes to match. Gilbert continued rambling on with whatever was on his mind. Either way, Ludwig had stopped paying attention long ago. He was looking around at the scenery around him. It wasn't special or anything; they live in a neighborhood that was just two blocks down from his school, where his classes would begin in just a couple of weeks. Strangely though, American schools began in the middle of the year, late August or early September, and that bothered him. Maybe not a lot but enough.

Right now, they were just enjoying the sunny day that summer brought and the slight breeze that swept by once in a while. He could've went inside, since he was an indoors kind of guy, and stayed on his laptop, or he could've went to the near-by park with Gilbert, who was his older brother, and just throw a football back at each other. The most fun out of that was Gilbert getting hit in the face multiple times and screaming "I THOUGHT YOU _LOVED_ ME BROTHER."

Other than the little dispute happening between their grandfather and Gilbert, it was overall peaceful, quiet, and relaxing day.

Until Gilbert had yelled, "Moving truck!"

Of course, trucks passed by all the time so Ludwig simply ignored him. He did however, look at the street and, just like Gilbert had said, a moving truck was coming toward them. The truck then slowed and came to a complete stop in the house next to him. Oh yeah, the woman who had lived in the house next to theirs had recently moved away. Ludwig watched the family that was all squished together in the truck come out, one by one. The oldest looking person, a woman who appeared in her late twenties or thirties, went behind to open the back while two other people- a boy and a girl- stayed by the passenger door. There wasn't any conversation from what Ludwig could hear. Soon, a car came by and parked just a bit behind them and stepped out. The driver appeared older than any of them.

Gilbert stepped off the porch of their house and crackled his knuckles, "Well, I'm gonna go introduce myself."

"Gilbert, no." said his grandfather, who was relaxing on the porch swing, "You'll make the neighbors hate us."

"I would n-"

"Gilbert, the woman who used to live next to us moved because you ripped up her flowers and blasted the music to the highest volume."

He scoffed, "Well, I'm sorry she's a bitch and that she couldn't handle the awesome me. Tough up or get out."

From then, the two began throwing remarks at each other while Ludwig simply got up and walked off the porch. He went over on to their lawn and just stood by the hedges, watching them. From there, he saw a much more clear picture of the two inside the moving truck, who had actually gotten out and were now standing by the truck. One was a young man, probably early twenties, with a hair curl and a plain old frown on his face. Their eyes met for a moment before the other had flipped off Ludwig and went over to the back of truck. They probably wouldn't get along.

The girl who had stood by him looked younger and had to have been in high school. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she also had a hair-curl. He concluded that they were, at best, brother and sister and deduced that she was much more kinder because when their eyes met, she only smiled and looked at the ground, fiddling with the end of her jacket.

After a moment and some help from his imaginary friend, the social faerie (who actually did nothing, and did not actually exist, except tell him to stop being such an introvert and go talk to someone, for Christ's sake), he slowly walked over to her. She looked at him before waving and uttering a small "Hello..."

The first words out of Ludwig's mouth were "I'm sorry if my brother annoys to the point where you wanna kill him. Feel free to punch him and throw things at him." The girl covered her mouth as she stifled a laugh from him. Ludwig was completely serious though, and couldn't care less if his brother cried about it. She then lowered her hand, "That's okay. But you probably shouldn't tell my brother that because he will punch him."

"That's just fine." He remarked, "By the way, I'm Ludwig."

"I'm Felicia," she said as she began to side-step, "It's nice to meet you."

He reached down and grabbed her hand, gently shaking it, "A pleasure, Your Royal Highness." He then lifted her hand up and kissed the top of it. Felicia giggled, "What was that for?"

"My grandfather says be as nice to a woman as possible so I'm going to refer to you as Princess Felicia. Or Queen. Whichever you prefer."

"Can I be a Duchess?" she asked.

"Then you'll be Duchess Felicia; her Grace, the Duchess of... your family."

"Vargas."

"Of the Vargas family."

Felicia pulled her hand away and placed it behind her back, smiling, "Can you be my Duke?"

He shrugged nonchalantly, "Anything for you, Duchess." Any other time, the blond German would've begin to stutter and cough and probably die at the mere thought of flirting since he, in fact did know how one flirts. For some strange reason however, he felt perfectly fine with their conversation and it was like he had known her for some time, even though he only knew her name.

She laughed a bit and looked around, "So have you lived here your whole life?"

Ludwig shook his head and leaned against the truck. He was amazed that her family was still behind the truck but, hearing their voices, assumed that they were still busy talking. "I used to live in Germany but we moved here when I was about eight or nine. I can't remember but I was young."

Felicia's attention had went to some locks of her hair that was dangling in front of her, where she began to braid them, "Germany huh? We were in Italy but we moved to Pennsylvania for some time and now we're here."

He watched her braid the pieces of hair into a French braid, "Why'd you move here?'

"Things." she said before quickly changing the subject, "How old are you Ludwig? What grade are you in?"

"Um..." His attention had turned to his brother, who was making gesture from the porch and pointing at Felicia. "I'm a Junior this year. Sixteen."

She smiled and untwirled the braid before she started another one, "I'm seventeen. Lovino, my big brother, is twenty-one and Romeo, the middle brother, is nineteen. He's in Italy though because he stayed and we left. I also have a kitty, his name's Gino and his brother is my brother's cat but they kinda don't like each other and.." Soon enough, Felicia was rambling on about the little things she liked, where she had been and where she would like to go. She went on about knowing three different languages but her mother hated that she didn't know Spanish, which was why she was taking Spanish that year. Ludwig merely listened and answered her when she asked questions. He honestly wasn't much of a talker and he kept to himself a lot but Felicia didn't seem to mind. While she went on, Ludwig occasionally looked behind her where the other three were conversing. Eventually, the woman, who looked frustrated to no end, walked over to the driver's side of the car the older gentleman had come in, stepped in and slammed the door. She then left and he would find out that she wouldn't come back.

On the other hand, the man who had stayed was much kinder because, as he walked around the moving truck, he went straight to Ludwig and said "Ciao! It's fantastic to meet you!" He shook Ludwig's hand and patted his back. The blond just stared at him before weakly shaking his hand, "It's... nice to meet you too."

Smiling, he wrapped his arm around Felicia and gestured to a man who was walking toward the house, "Come say hello to the neighbor Lovino!"

"Ew, fuck no." was his only response as he walked into the house and slammed door like he had lived there his entire life. Apparently the door was open.

"Oh _Dios mio_..." He then turned his attention to Ludwig, "I'm sorry about Lovino. He's a little... anti-social. Anyway, I am Romulus but you can call me Roma or even Grandpa Roma!"He laughed and patted Felicia's head, "And I see you've met my grand-daughter. I hope we'll be able to get along."

Ludwig was going to respond but stopped when he heard someone yell behind him '_oh fuck no_' and slam the door. He turned around and saw only Gilbert on the porch. Apparently, his grandfather had went inside. Almost immediately afterwards, Gilbert ran over and jumped on to Ludwig's back, "Little brother! Pray tell, who is this awesome chick?" Ludwig promptly flipped Gilbert off his back on to the ground next to Grandpa Roma and simply said "No." as he brushed some invisible dirt off his shoulders

Felicia giggled at this and kneeled down, pulling her skirt down, "Hi."

"Date me." said Gilbert as he struggled to keep his cool and keep from having a coughing fit, since that throw had knocked the wind out of him. She only smiled at him, "No, thank you."

Gilbert snapped his fingers, "Damn." He then pulled himself up and brushed off some dead grass leaves that had clung to his shirt, "Anyway, I am the awesome Gilbert! This is my brother and my gramps just went in, for some reason." He shrugged before looking at the house, "So who was that guy that just went in?"

"Lovino." Felicia answered, "He doesn't like anyone except girls."

"So you're saying..." Gilbert began, pausing for dramatic effect, "..that I _don't_ have a chance with him?" Ludwig quickly swung his hand and hit Gilbert's shoulder while Grandpa Rome laughed, "Oh, I'm sure he'll come to like you but not like that." They all laughed for a moment, except Ludwig who seemed to keep on a neutral expression, before Roma clapped his hands, "Well, we better start moving these boxes inside before it gets too late." He turned and started toward the back of the truck while gesturing at Ludwig and Gilbert, "If you want, you can come help us."

Gilbert smiled and quickly rushed over to the old man's side, "I can totally help." He looked back at Ludwig and waved, "Have fun flirting."

Ludwig scoffed and looked at Felicia, "Well, it seems that they're gonna get along. I think it's Lovino that I'll be worried about." Based on his previous experience, Ludwig was quite sure that Lovino is the type to take action first, question later. With Gilbert, it would be hard to resist strangling, punching, or injuring him in some way.

Felicia looked at the two as they began to pick up boxes and take them inside, "We should probably help too," she said, starting to walk over, "I can show you where my room is once we get in." The blond German agreed with her and began to help carry boxes inside with Grandpa Roma and Gilbert casually talking about their interests like they had always been friends. Once Ludwig walked in, the first thing he noticed was Lovino laying on the floor, staring at his phone with headphones in his ears. Ludwig just laid the box near the door and watched him. Lovino continued to stare at his phone before looking up, waving, and putting his attention back on the phone. Ludwig just shrugged it off and watched Felicia quickly run in, place a large box down, and raising her arms up, yawning, "I don't wanna do anything now..."

"It's one box." he said to her.

"It's a big box!" she retaliated before grabbing his hand and sprinting up the stairs that he didn't bother to notice. "It's up here, up here!" she said opening a door at the end of the hall and running in. She raised her arms up again, "This is my room!" she said happily, "Look, look!" she pointed at the window, which had a clear view of the lawn and Gilbert, who was carrying some more boxes. Ludwig made a slight nod while biting his lip, a bad habit he had somehow achieved over the years of high school, "Uh-huh. It's nice. Roomy."

Felicia clapped her hands together and quickly laid down, "I wanna sleep now."

"Without a bed?" he asked.

"Oh yeah," she sighed and sat up, "Guess I need that."

Ludwig rolled his eyes and walked over, nudging her with his foot, "I would hope so. Come on, let's get everything all situated."

* * *

For the rest of the day, or at least for a few more hours before Gilbert spent his time chasing everyone throughout the new house (yelling "I can't believe that _cunt_ never let me in here; it's so awesome!"), everyone went through all the boxes, placing them in the right rooms and already beginning to unpack. Instead of unpacking however, Felicia asked Ludwig to show her around the neighborhood and he agreed. Gilbert got hit a few times before they left and by 6 o'clock, Ludwig had toured around the block at least five times, telling her where the school, the nearest convenience stores, the lake, and the parks were. Along the way, they had exchanged some fun information and such; Felicia having an infinite knowledge of useless things and animals and Ludwig with his comprehension of how to take apart and re-build a car, his knowledge of math (which she claimed she had none of), and his killer memory (which actually wasn't so killer, it seemed). Occasionally, Felicia would say completely strange things at random and, usually Ludwig would get a little uncomfortable, but he felt just fine around her and he was glad for that. Their topic of conversation was now methods of murder.

"I just don't see," Felicia began, "How you can think that anything is safe like... erasers."

"How would-"

"Just like, shove 'em down someones throat. Keep shovin' them until they stop struggling then hide the body." She looked at him, "Right? Then just bury some dead animals body over theirs and everything will be fine!"

Ludwig was confused, "How can-"

"Did you know that if you bury a dog or like, some dead animal over someone's body, the police won't search there because they'll say 'Oh, it's just a dead animal, haha! Nothing wrong here.' and you won't get caught for murder."

He chuckled a bit, a smile appearing for a moment on his lips,"Okay, that makes a little more sense, I guess." Felicia smiled, feeling rather proud of herself and Ludwig stuck his hands inside his jacket's pockets as a cool breeze rolled by. It went quiet and Ludwig started thinking of some other topics they could discuss. On one hand, he could just take her home and be down with it, since he was never much of a talker but on the other, he kind of didn't want to end the day and wouldn't mind spending some more time with her.

"So," he said, deciding he would spend a little more time with her, "You are Italian yes?"

She looked over at him and nodded, "Full blooded Italian!"

"Do you know any other languages besides Italian and English?"

Felicia looked up at the sky and, despite it being somewhat late, it was as blue as ever and not a cloud was in the sky. Then she shook her head, "Mm, I know some French but other than that, I can't remember. I know... maybe a little German? Just like, two words maybe." She looked at him, "What do you know?"

"English, German, and maybe a little Italian." he said, "My family lived in Germany for a few years before we moved down in Austria, near the Italian border. That's probably the only reason I know some."

She perked up a bit suddenly, "Oh, you did? I knew a really nice lady who lived in Austria. Sometimes, I would go over to her house and I'd play with _fratello _or she'd let me play the piano her husband had. He was really nice."

"Sounds like fun." He then stopped and Felicia looked fairly confused before realizing they had arrived at their houses. Ludwig looked down at her, "Do you know what your classes are for school?" he asked.

"Oh, um..." she laughed a bit, "I don't know really- I mean, I've got the schedule and all but I haven't memorized it or anything."

"I don't expect you to since I haven't done so either."

She smiled and grabbed his hand, walking toward her house. Ludwig just sort of followed her and she opened the front door. An abundance of boxes were scattered about the room but were near the wall, a couch which was placed lazily in the middle of the room, leaning toward the wall across from them, and no one was in the living room. Well, almost no one.

Sitting in the middle of the room, near the couch on the floor, sat a man. Actually, probably a teenager based on the clothes he had, which looked quite old. He sported what seemed to be a pair of black slacks, a white button-up shirt, and simple black suspenders. He looked over at them and smiled. His eyes seemed to be void of anything, just eyes without the pupil or iris. "_Kon'nichiwa_." he simply said.

Ludwig was completely terrified, "I'm leaving Felicia, bye." He said as he turned, yet Felicia kept a tight hold on his hand, disregarding his fear, "Do... do we know you?" she asked, not sure if she was a friend of Lovino's or her grandfather (she didn't even seemed fazed by the fact his eyes looked dead).

He lost the smile and now had on a confusing sort of frown, "Hm?" It went quiet before the man smiled again and laughed quietly, "Oh, my apologies... I forgot.." He then stood up and cleared his throat, keeping a straight posture and then bowing, "My name is Kiku and it seems I am dead."

The German was now flipping out, "Okay, no, no, I am not dealing with this. Nuh-uh, this isn't real- it's some God damn dream and I need to wake up-" Felicia turned around and reached up, yanking his arm, "Lud! It's okay, he's not gonna hurt us!" She looked at Kiku, "Right?"

"I suppose if I went through you and grabbed your intestines, they would come with me but no, I think not." he mused. Ludwig covered his ears, "I refuse to believe this, no way, this is some vivid hallucination and for some reason, I am incredibly hopped up on drugs."

Felicia laughed and shook Ludwig gently, "It's okay Lud, deep breaths, deep breaths!" She looked back over at Kiku, "Well, it's nice to meet you Kiku! I'm Felicia, and this is Ludwig but he's a big fat scaredy-cat right now."

"I am not scared, just scarred."

"Same thing-" She was promptly cut off when a voice erupted from the stairs and loud footsteps accompanied the voice, "What the _fuck_ is going on?" It was Lovino, who then appeared at the last step of the stairs, arm folded and hair ruffled up, "Why are guys even yelling?" he demanded.

"We weren't-"

"Eh, I don't care. Just tell your..." he stared at Ludwig before scowling, "..._friend_ to leave. _Nonno_ says he's gonna order pizza since he's too lazy to cook something."

"We don't even have food in this house, Lovi!" yelled a voice from up the stairs.

"Doesn't mean shit!" Lovino yelled back. He hadn't seen or noticed Kiku, who apparently seemed invisible to him. Ludwig had been staring at Kiku, glancing at Lovino and hoping that he wasn't crazy. After a few moments of silence, he walked toward the German, "What the _fuck_ are you even looking at?" he demanded.

"I-"

"You know what? I don't care, leave and Felicia will see you at school on Monday."he said before practically pushing Ludwig out the door. Felicia waved at Ludwig as he was pushed out, "Bye Lud!" she said happily and smiling. In just the span of about five seconds or less, Ludwig found himself on the porch of their house, listening to some yelling and laughing coming from the inside. He looked back at their house and mumbled a "Crazy Italians..." before walking toward his own house. He went up to the door and opened it, finding his brother sitting upside down on the couch, head hanging off and watching T.V. while his grandfather was reading a book in a recliner chair. Gilbert looked over and smiled, waving, "Isn't it a bit late for you?" he asked.

Ludwig completely disregarded his question and sat down next to him, "So did you have fun with them while I showed Felicia around?"

He laughed a bit, "Are y'all dating?"

The blond looked over at him and glared, "Answer."

Gilbert scoffed and sat up correctly, grabbing the arm of the couch and turning around, "Rude. But yeah, we had some fun. Gramps says he doesn't want to meet them." He looked at the older man, "For some damn reason." He rolled his eyes and Gilbert looked back at Ludwig, "It was alright, except Lovino wanting to punch me in the dick like the LOSER he is!" He said with a pout.

Ludwig scoffed, "Good, someone needs to do it."

"And you won't?" he said, grasping his chest and gasping dramatically, "Why, I'm touched! My brother actually does love me!" He then laughed and laid down, swinging his feet over and onto Ludwig's lap, "Anyway, Gramps says that dinner's done so if you're hungry, go and get a bite before I eat it all."

"Even though he didn't say anything." Ludwig noted.

"Obviously, he is busy with something way more important." He gestured over to him and chuckled, "I'm just telling you now before you get mad at me."

Getting up, Ludwig walked past Gilbert and smacked his shoulder, "I honestly don't know how you could think such a thing." he said blankly as he walked into the kitchen. Gilbert started yelling in German (something about 'It's okay if _he_ hits me but if _I_ so much as _blink_, you flip your shit!') to their grandfather while he grabbed a plate. Perhaps this school year would be slightly less irritating than last year. Perhaps.


	2. That Girl and Her Happiness

_**A/N: **Oh look, second chapter. I'm actually gonna continue this wat_

_Also, Kiku is ghost and apparently, only Lud and Felicia can see him. I dunno, I just wanted the Axis trio all together, even though Kiku can't travel far from the house. If you want a clearer picture of this dead child, look up an image of an ancestor from _Homestuck_ such as Kankri or something. Or the ghost from _Anya's Ghost,_ those are **prime** examples of what he looks like in my eyes (get it? Eyes? Because that's actually what I mean when I say 'that's what he looks like')._

_On another note, I feel like Ludwig would seem nice and cool on the outside but inside, he's freaking out and such. He's also really polite but if it came to asking someone out, he'd cry. I would too. Also, he's awkward to conversations so yeah._

* * *

_...I know that we can be so amazing_  
_And being in your life is gonna change me_  
_And now I can see every single possibility_

_And someday I know it'll all turn out_  
_And I'll work to work it out_  
_Promise you kid I'll give more than I get..._

_I just haven't met you yet_

* * *

Needless to say, Ludwig didn't exactly have a nice 'reunion' with his friends- he didn't have many to begin with. There were students he would hang around with during lunch or classrooms where he was familiar with a fair amount of people but all in all, Ludwig wasn't the social type. In fact, he got incredibly nervous in crowds and preferred to be isolated and by himself, a reason he was an indoors sort of person as in inside his house. Usually, during this sort of thing like meeting some old friends (three months old because summer), he would say 'hi' then question what they did over the summer and such before going on their way.

It was slightly different with Felicia.

For one, she had told him, or rather forced him, to wait for her while she got ready. This wasn't much of a problem since the day before, they had agreed on walking to school the next day. What was the problem was that it was now 7:20 and they would be late. Granted, school started at 8:00 sharp but he usually got to school at early seven, give or take. At 7:24 exactly, according to Ludwig, she walked out of her house, "Sorry Lud! I was just-"

He reached out and grabbed her hand, starting toward the school, "We'll be late."

She tilted her head, "Doesn't-"

"Late." He repeated once more. After a moment, Felicia smiled and started going on about something he didn't care for, more or less. They had arrived at 7:31 and he started toward the cafeteria while Felicia looked about at the trophies and pictures of teams and such that were located among various places in the school. She seemed to be in awe but that was fine since she was new and she didn't know a thing, not even the location of her classes. Troublesome.

Ludwig had ended copying down Felicia's schedule since she was so frightened on getting lost and since he found out that they had four classes together either way: art, orchestra, math, and anatomy. All the more for Felicia to not get lost in the school.

In a few of their classes, Ludwig had met some old friends and Felicia found it incredibly easy to make friends. Upon entering their art class, Ludwig first noticed a man sitting on the table and a girl sitting in her seat correctly and he knew who the duo was. He walked over, Felicia trailing behind him, "Alfred." He simply said before the dirty blond headed man turned, smiled, and began throwing him a barrage of things ranging from things that happened during the summer to the girls and fun he had. Felicia had taken it upon herself to go introduce her to Alfred's friend, whose name was Natalya.

In the midst of his rambling, he suddenly noticed Felicia and he grabbed Ludwig's shoulder tight, "Woah woah, who is that?" he asked, lowering his voice so that only Ludwig could hear him.

"Felicia." He said, folding his arms, "She just moved her and I'm-"

"Oh God, the thirst is real bro."

Ludwig stuttered, "I... What?" He asked, raising a brow.

Alfred looked at him, "She's so god damned cute, sweet Lord Jesus help me."

The German rubbed his head and sighed, "Alfred, can you not?" He asked with a slight annoyance in his voice.

"I'm gonna do it."

Ludwig suddenly looked up, "Oh God, please don't Alfred."

"I'm gonna do it."

"Alfred no."

"Alfred _yes_." Before Ludwig could protest any more, Alfred walked behind Felicia and tapped her shoulder. She turned and looked at Alfred and just as she was about to speak, Alfred cleared his throat and grabbed her shoulders, "Hi, I'm Alfred F. Jones and I wanna know if you wanna see my bald eagle."

Ludwig quickly Alfred's collar and yanked him back, "Felicia, don't answer that."

Felicia just stared at the two in confusion as Ludwig then put Alfred in a headlock and say in a deadly tone, "I thought we talked about this, you dumb American, I thought I said you _weren't_ allowed to make those kinds of jokes-" Alfred merely laughed as Ludwig went on. Felicia turned her attention to Natalya, who waved it off and said "Ignore them."

Felicia was about to question but shrugged and sat down by the girl, thinking that was probably the best action to take.

That was only the second class of the day and Ludwig still wasn't awake enough for any of it; Alfred had spent his time making little paper triangle 'things' and flicking them at Natalya and Felicia, and occasionally Ludwig, and constantly got called on since he wouldn't quit. "No fun!" he whispered to Felicia with a smile. She leaned toward him and flicked his nose then holding her arms up to make an 'X' shape, "No fun allowed!" she said with a quiet giggle. Alfred gasped dramatically and leaned away from her, "How dare this peasant-"

"Alfred!" the teacher had angrily called out. Alfred scoffed and folded his arms, "All these _rude_ people." he said pouting.

"Shut your fucking mouth Jones." Natalya said as squeezed her fists, cracking a few joints. That shut Alfred up pretty quick.

The next class they had together was one right before lunch, math. Thankfully, they didn't do any work and Felicia used a pen to doodle a few things on Ludwig's hand and wrist which ranged from a little bunny to a small rainbow and little stars. He would definitely need to wash his hands after this class.

Lunch had been relatively fine; Alfred had found Ludwig and Felicia and dragged them off to their table, which was located on the left side of the cafeteria, near the back. Already at the table were some acquaintances that Ludwig didn't particularly know about but knew enough because of previous classes. On one side of the table seemed to be full of nothing but girls- a French girl named Marianne, another girl sporting a British accent named Alice, Natalya, a Chinese girl named Chun-Yan (Nene being a nickname) and Felicia. On the other side was Alfred, Ludwig, and Ivan, who was some creepy Russian guy and Natalya's older brother.

Everyone had went on about things they had done over the summer and such and ate food while the only two who didn't speak were Ludwig and Felicia, the Italian girl being a little nervous since she didn't know anyone and these were all Alfred's friends. Nonetheless, lunch was more or less exciting since Alice had flung at least four pieces of food at Alfred because if his idiotic comments while Ivan and Natalya bickered on about Chun-Yan, who complained about them as well. Ludwig didn't particularity remember any comments or concerns or stories mentioned during lunch and therefore, they will not be mentioned.

The last two hours of the day, orchestra and anatomy, were much more interesting. Felicia had come to find out that Ludwig played the bass along with Ivan and that they were the only two basses, unless a freshman decided to pick out the instrument but he didn't know. Felicia was stuck between choosing between a violin and viola but since all the violins had been taken, and she did not have a violin of her own, she went with viola. The viola section was closer to the cellos and basses anyway so it was fine. Everyone stood up, one at a time, and introduced themselves along with the instrument they choose and then they picked a stand partner. The basses didn't need a stand partner so they stood by themselves but Felicia had chosen Marianne as her stand partner since, thankfully, she was in the same class as her.

Thankfully, they didn't play any music but instead played scales and harmonies which Felicia absolutely despised and Ludwig was mutual on his feelings for it. And so the class ended and they went off to their last class, anatomy. The two had decided on sitting in the back where four large tables resided behind them. The class did not do anything and Felicia spent her time, again, drawing little pictures on Ludwig's other hand. He had not erased the ones from before.

"Why are you drawing on my hand?" he asked, the hand being drawn on resting on the table as Felicia doodled on it, his other hand propped up so he could rest his chin on it.

"Because." she stated simply.

"I could die." he said.

Felicia scoffed, "Ink needs to get into your bloodstream and even then, you would need maybe a millilitre of it to kill you. I'm drawing on your _skin_, not your blood vessels."

"How do you even know these types of things?" he asked.

"I'm an expert on that kind of stuff."

Ludwig rolled his eyes and soon, the number of drawings had gone up all the way to his elbow. Then the bell rang and the both of them started gathering their things. Felicia looked over at Ludwig, "Lud, do you have any pets?" she asked. He looked over at her, had they talked about this already? He couldn't remember, "_Ja,_ three dogs."

"Oh okay, my _fratello_ was wondering since he heard barking last night." She started toward the door.

He followed after her, "Do you let your cat out at night?"

"_Si._"

"That's the problem."

Felicia laughed a bit and they walked out the doors of the school, the Italian now talking about how her classes were and people she had talked to and expressing how much she loved it here since everyone seemed nice except for a few kids who seemed like spoiled bastards (though she didn't say that because she wasn't a fan of cursing unlike her brother). Ludwig listened as she went on about other types of things like how Kiku, when asked how he died, would say 'Would you like some tea?' and then float over to the kitchen, only to be discouraged by the fact that a) they didn't have a teapot and b) he couldn't touch anything. Felicia never seemed to notice since she would forget about the question and focusing on making him happy again since the teapot thing seemed to really bother him. She then stated they would have to go to the store and buy one sometime soon.

The two had arrived at their houses, said their goodbyes and such, then walked inside and they had repeated his routine all throughout the school year and Ludwig liked routines, he was content with how things were but occasionally, ever since she had arrived, he would wake up at one A.M. or so and wander the house, sitting on the couch or wandering into the basement or sauntering around the kitchen. At maybe three A.M., he would feel sleepy again and then go to bed and this went on throughout the school year as well. Curious.

Now, it was October, the first of the month to be exact, and the weatherman had already predicted snow to come and it bothered Ludwig so much that Felicia didn't so much as change or jacket or put on a hat or at least some mittens, seeing as it was cold enough for water freeze but after it had been out for a while. Leaves had fell and bundled up into little piles on the ground, some being man made, and the skies being much more cloudier than usual. It wasn't dark but it was like all the puffy clouds had stretched out and come together to form a blanket that covered the sun. He waited for her outside her home and looked over upon hearing a door open just to see that Felicia was wearing that same, stupid black hoodie and that same stupid matching skirt. _She didn't even wear stockings_.

"_Ciao_ Lud!" She said, skipping down the steps of her home and running over, giving him a quick hug before they started walking.

"Why don't you wear anything else?" He said with a slight annoyance in his voice.

She looked at him, "What's wrong with the way I dress?"

He began stuttering, trying to find the words, "Well... It... I mean..." He then sighed, "It's cold and you're not exactly safe from being, ya know, frozen to death."

"I'm not gonna freeze!" She said with a matter-of-fact sort of voice, "Plus I like my hoodie and I like my skirt."

Ludwig rolled his eyes, "Fine, do what you want. Don't come crying to me when you need help because I won't help you."

"I'll keep that in mind." She said, smiling. She then reached and took a hold of Ludwig's hand, swinging it as they walked. It had then went quiet and the only thing that could be heard was the wind and rustling of leaves but other than that, it was almost silent. Ludwig couldn't think of anything and Felicia could think of a million things for him to answer or talk about.

She then spoke up, "So a little birdie came by and told me that you have a birthday in two days."

"Gilbert, right?" He asked.

Felicia shook her head, "No, his bird, Gilbird. Why wou-"

"I don't know, continue." He said rubbing his head. She pouted and pulled her hand away, folding her arms, "You sound mad..." she mumbled. He shook his head, "I'm sorry, I just haven't had much sleep in the last few days.."

She then stuck her hands inside her hoodie's pockets, "I'm sorry. Well, Gilbert sent his birdie over with a note and said you had a birthday in a few days, so what do you want?" She asked. Ludwig shrugged, unsure of what he wanted, "I don't know, just... I dunno, get something..."

Felicia brightened up a bit, "We'll throw you a birthday party!"

Ludwig looked at her and blinked, "You don't have to..." he began to object. She shook her head, "Oh no, I want to! It'll be so great, we can have it at my house and we can invite everyone and we'll have chocolate cake! Or maybe strawberry? My _nonno_ doesn't like chocolate so maybe marble cake- oh, we can one of each kind since people like different kinds and maybe we'll get lots of soda and party games! I wonder what games can we do..." Ludwig only sighed and listened to her. It had seemed that once she had her mind set on something, she would see it to the end. Not that he minded, he was more or less concerned about the amount of people, he was so nervous in crowds. His expression would never change but inside, he became generally anxious and it was terrifying, in a sense.

Eventually they had made it to the school and still the Italian girl went on. Felicia had a one-track mind and right now, it was focused on Ludwig and the preparations for a party he didn't want. Of course, he didn't have a say and he didn't want to be rude. During lunch, the table was buzzing with word of Ludwig's apparent party.

"Bro, I'm totally bringing my games over so we can play." Alfred said during the conversation.

Alice scoffed, "Those games are stupid, Alfred."

He looked at her, "YOU'RE STUPID." he declared, swinging his hand down and slapping the table. Alice stood up, "Oy, you wanna fight, mate?" she hissed at him. Alfred scoffed, "Brah, I-"

Natalya reached over and smacked Alfred's head, "Ladies, you're both pretty. Shut up."

Alfred folded his arms and leaned back, "So rude to the hero." He said with a scowl.

"No fighting!" Felicia said clapping her hands twice, "We will all have fun and everything will be fine, right Lud?"

"I don't know how to feel about an unplanned party, two days prior to my birthday."

"Be happy!" She said as she reached over and squeezed his cheek, "You'll have fun!"

"Oh joy." He said nonchalantly. Everyone continued on with their own plans and ideas and Ludwig listened to them. He didn't keep any in his head but was quite sure Felicia did because on his birthday, just a couple days later, Ludwig had walked into his home and ten was promptly sent off to go get some milk from the little store on the corner, maybe a half-mile away. He had been gone for not longer than ten minutes when he came back and opened the door to darkness. Well, that was ominous. He flipped on the lights and was greeted by cheers, screams, yelling, and a united phrase: "Happy birthday Ludwig!"

He was actually surprised. He stood silent for just a moment before speaking up, "I was gone for for five minutes!"

Gilbert jumped out from his hiding spot, which was behind the couch, and hugged his brother, "Seven minutes, we counted!" Everyone agreed and Ludwig sighed, "Okay, I guess we're doing this."

Everyone cheered again and soon, the party commenced. Ludwig found himself participating in silly kid games such as spin the bottle, seven minutes in heaven, pin the tail on the donkey (Gilbert did not dress the part but he was sure bleeding in all areas, minus his face and legs and vital regions), and other things. Ludwig had received, and given, kisses, been punched and hugged multiple times, and had even gotten a good laugh out of Gilbert's suffering. It was even, dare he say, fun.

Soon, his grandfather stepped out the kitchen, holding something up above his head so these damned teenagers wouldn't ruin it. It was a cake and a good one. The design was flawless; a car, which he later found out was edible much to his dismay, had Ludwig's name written on the side and seemed to be from the late sixties. The writing on the cake read "Happy Birthday!" in green frosting and the designs were of little gears, clocks, screws and such adorning the side and empty areas of the cake, making it too good to eat. No really, Ludwig had to take a moment to admire it's beauty along with Alfred ('Fuck man, I gotta FaceBook this shit!').

The cake was then distributed into carefully cut out pieces and it was also divided into three sections: vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. Ludwig took a chocolate piece and the car and began eating it, carefully setting the car down. Felicia, who had been occupying herself with the others, moved over and sat next to him, "How is it?" She asked, eating a piece of vanilla cake.

"Glorious." He said eating another piece. Felicia smiled at this and looked around, "I'm glad! We had fun getting all the decorations and stuff and plus, your grandpa says he made the cake himself!"

"I know," he said, looking at his grandfather, who was conversing with Gilbert, "I like making cakes too."

Felicia held her arms up and attempted to flex them, "Oh, very manly!"

"Shut up," he said with a roll of his eyes, "I bet you can't do this cake, the design, or the car."

She shook her head, "No, I'm not very good at anything..."

"Sure you are, you just don't realize it yourself."

The Italian looked down at her hands, which sat in her lap, smiling, "Okay.." She then went quiet and Ludwig had went quiet with her. He glanced over at the Italian and saw her raising her arm to wipe some cake crumbs off her face. He reached over and quickly grabbed it, "Don't."

Felicia looked at him, "Why..?"

Ludwig reached across the table and grabbed a paper towel, turning toward her and suddenly wiping her face. She attempted to object but was muffled by the paper towel. After a moment, he pulled his hand away, "There."

He stared at her for a moment. Her cheeks had turned a little red along with her lips and nose from the rubbing and she reached up, holding her cheeks, "That hurt..."

"Sorry..." Ludwig went quiet again and reached over, grabbing the car and sniffing it before breaking off a wheel and holding it up a bit, "Oh, so it is edible."

She looked at him, "You didn't know?"

"I didn't realise." He bit down on it and began eating. Felicia smiled and looked around, "This is pretty fun, huh?"

"I suppose so..." He mumbled a bit. She looked over at him and grabbed his hand, "No fuuuun." she said, dragging out the word before Ludwig sighed, "I don't- I assume everyone is having fun, I don't know so..."

Ludwig was merely being truthful, really. The parties he had after he turned thirteen gradually became less 'fun,' smaller, and Ludwig had asked that the parties that they would throw for him in the future be 'less childish.' The party now was nothing short of a kids party with streamers, children's games, and a few grown up children. Sure, he enjoyed some things like soccer and such but he wasn't big on games that seems 'immature.' Felicia could've cared less, "Hey Lud," she said, suddenly standing up, "My _nonno_ and _fratello_ brought over a Wii, so we're gonna use it, okay?"

"Sure.." He was sure she didn't even hear his answer because Felicia was already in the living room, declaring that they would play some games and, after hooking up the wires to the correct spots, Felicia handed three Wii remotes out, holding one herself. "What's the first game?" she asked.

Marianne held up three game boxes, "I brought some dance games!"

"Got some fighting games right here!" yelled Alfred as he jumped up. The two then debated over which games should be played first before everyone took a vote and, unanimously, the dance games were chosen. "Obviously," the French girl started as she inserted the game into the game console, "The birthday boy should go first along with his girlfriend and her brother!"

Ludwig looked over when Alfred had came over with Ivan, practically yanking him out and toward the front of he T.V. screen, "Uh, I-I don't have a-"

"But of course you do!" chimed Marianne as she walked over to Felicia, grabbing her arm and yanking her over toward Ludwig, pushing her forward so that the Italian girl tripped and Ludwig caught her, "She is your girlfriend!"

Ludwig's face only turned a light dusty pink, "We're not dating, Marianne." Felicia only smiled, like she actually _liked_ the idea.

"All in due time~" she cooed as she grabbed Gilbert, "You shall also join."

Gilbert smiled and took the remote from Alfred, glancing over at Ludwig, "Awesome."

She then searched around the room before clapping her hands, "Don't you have a brother, Felicia? Bring him forth!"

Lovino aimed to hide himself in back of the room, far from anyone else and out of their views. It just so happened that Alfred should be the one next to him and he grabbed the older Italian's hand, dragging him toward the front of the room, "Found him!" Lovino yanked his arm away from Alfred and took the remote from Marianne, "Don't fucking touch me." he hissed before standing next to Gilbert with a disgusted look on his face. Ludwig still didn't know why Lovino had such a hatred for the German family.

Felicia nudged Ludwig, "Pick a song Lud!"

He glanced over at her before going through the songs and painfully picking on the random button, unable to pick one since he really did not want to dance. It landed on '_Love You Like A Love Song' _by Selena Gomez and he covered his face, "Oh _Gott_..."

Marianne clapped her hands as the game started, "Obviously, it is a sign from the heavens!" Everyone laughed and as the game started, it just so happened that the only ones who seemed to put effort into the song were Felicia and Gilbert. Halfway through the song, Lovino tossed the remote at Alfred saying "Fuck this." and Ludwig just gave up, unable to actually put effort into the song. Felicia ended up with five stars and Gilbert had only four stars, "Ugh, no fair!" the albino declared, playfully pushing Felicia. She laughed a bit and pushed Gilbert back. Gilbert ended up falling back and hit his head against the wall. Their grandfather seemed to get a laugh out of that and Ludwig, along with Alfred and the others, high-fived Felicia, who felt pretty bad since she didn't mean to full on push him into the wall.

The party ended fairly late, around eleven at night, and after everyone had went home, Felicia helped Ludwig's grandfather clean up. They pulled down whatever decorations were up, put up whatever cake was not eaten, cleaned up the living room and put everything back in order, and soon Felicia and Lovino were heading home. Lovino waited by the front door while Felicia talked to Ludwig.

"That was so much fun!" she chirped with a smile.

Ludwig stuck his hands inside his pants pocket and shrugged, "I think you gave Gilbert brain damage."

Lovino scoffed, having heard that little part, "Like he doesn't already have brain damage."

"Oy!" said Gilbert, folding his arms. Ludwig got a slight chuckle out of that and looked at Felicia, "Guess I'll see you later then."

She nodded and stepped forward, wrapping her arms around him with a smile, "Bye Lud~"

Ludwig felt his cheeks heat up and he hesitantly hugged her, patting her head for a moment before pulling away, "_Ja_... bye."

Felicia stepped back and grinned up at him, turning around and walking off out the door, Lovino following behind her. Ludwig shut the door and Gilbert started laughing, "Woah, is that love I smell in the air?"

"_Nein_, it's probably you." said Ludwig with a scoff.

Gilbert rolled his eyes and walked toward his room, "Whatever you say, man. I'm like, 60% sure that you like her."

"What's the other 40% then?" Ludwig asked, raising his eyebrow.

"The other 40% is sincere and endearing love, _bruder_! Surely, you kn-" Gilbert was unable to finish the sentence, due to the impact of a dull object (a book, he later found out) and his head. Little brothers were so cruel.


End file.
